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The Institute of Transactional Philosophy Founding Board
January 2020 in Ojai, California

Past Directors


Darryl Anderle
Darryl Anderle is the CFO of Influence Ecology, the leading business education in Transactional Competence™. Skeptical, analytical and innovative, his 30 years of experience focused in Accounting, Business Affairs and Information Technologies enables him to pinpoint breakdowns and offer solutions. Darryl lives with his husband on the Pacific Coast an hour west of Los Angeles where they’re often boating in the pristine waters around the Channel Islands.


Marcus Bell
Marcus Bell has marketed and promoted, produced, written songs for, mentored and developed some of the world’s superstars and brands, including:  Katy Perry, Shelita Burke, Timbaland, Amitabh Bachchan, Sony Music, Warner Brothers, Arista Records, Netflix, MTV, HBO, EMI and Universal Music, McDonalds, General Mills, and Peter Diamandis (X-Prize, Singularity University).  He is an Amazon #1 best selling book author of “Bellringer Branding Bible.” Based in Los Angeles, Marcus is a Social Media Influencer and recognized coach training people to increase their visibility.


Alex Bould

Alex Bould is currently the Principal Consultant at Playbooks & Pathways, a consultancy focused on bringing agile practices and learnings to the software and tech industry. Alex has worked at prominent organizations such as PayPal, where he served as the Leader of Enterprise Agile Coaching. He has held positions at companies like Visa, AMP, HP, Phoenix Technologies and BNP Paribas where he focused on agile practices, business transformation, and product design effectiveness. Alex is an avid student of transactional philosophy, process philosophy and transactional competence.


Peter Burgraf
Peter Burgraf is a Vice President of business development for Q2 Business Capital, a subsidiary of First Savings Bank. Peter specializes in SBA financing for small to mid-size businesses seeking capital across the USA. Over his more than 20 years in the banking industry Peter has ranked among the top producers in the organizations he has worked. He is happily married with one daughter and enjoys golfing during his leisure in the NW suburbs of Chicago, IL.


Karina Christensen
Karina Christensen is a real estate developer and sales professional in Denver, Colorado. She has been consistently ranked in the top 1% of agents nation wide based on volume and is an owner in several Keller Williams Realty franchises. She is also the co-founder of Ubuntu Partners, a 100% woman owned real estate development company, focusing on high-rise, urban residential projects. Ubuntu Partners is currently developing a 312 unit residential project in Downtown Denver, where Karina currently lives with her husband.


Dr. Khush Cooper
Khush Cooper, MSW, PhD. is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs as well as a social entrepreneur.  She specializes in foster care reform, LGBTQ youth, implementation science, and leadership. Dr. Cooper teaches Leadership, Child Welfare Policy, and Macro Practice at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and is an advisor to the UCLA Williams Institute, a nationally renowned LGBT research and policy analysis center. She lives in Los Angeles and has been a student of transactional philosophy and a transactionalism practitioner since 2014.


Patricia DeBough
Patricia DeBough is a marketing executive specialized in building brands, teams and strategies that drive meaningful growth for B2B software organizations. High-impact narratives, designs and experiences enrich the personality and influence of each brand she works with and drives demand for their solutions. A personal journey to strengthen her own health and wellness deepened her people-focused and values-based leadership style. Patricia is passionate about improving the well-being of her team and colleagues and enhancing any culture she's a part of.


Christopher Mercier, External Affairs Co-Chair
Christopher L. Mercier, AIA, founded (fer) studio - form, environment, research in early 2002 and today (fer) studio is a leading Los Angeles based Architecture, Interiors & Urban Design Practice specializing in Iconic Trans-relational designed environments. As both a practicing Architect and Professional Artist, his work explores the unique relational opportunities between the ecologies of painting, sculpture and architecture in attempt to re-invent the built environment. Christopher lives in Inglewood California with his wife Karen and their daughter Nevaeh.


Angela Meharg, Treasurer
Angela Meharg is founder and CEO of Datisfy Inc., and is a database analytics specialist with over 20 years of industry experience. She is a sought-after speaker, educator, and consultant in the area of small business and nonprofit accounting data. Angela is based in Toronto, Canada, and visits her clients and colleagues around the world, using remote business systems to manage and grow her enterprise.


Sarah Jane Meharg, Ph.D.
Sarah Jane Meharg is an Assistant Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and the Canadian Forces College, and founder of Peace & Conflict Planners Canada Inc. Sarah is a global authority in post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction and recovery. Recently named a Top Woman in Defence and Security for 2020, she lives with her husband and two daughters near Ottawa, Canada.


John Patterson
John Patterson is Co-founder and CEO of Influence Ecology, the leading business education in Transactional Competence™. His expertise is the construction of educational environments that accelerate effective performance. Since 1987, he has educated tens of thousands of people internationally while managing and training hundreds of managers, faculty, and mentors. He is the host of the company's podcast with listeners in 100+ countries. John lives with his husband in Ojai, California.


John Severson
John Severson, owner and president of Severson Compass & Associates, a division of A Cruise World, has over 30 years experience and expertise in planning meetings and conferences all around the world. He has contracted with over 250 hotel programs (cruises, resorts, spas, convention centers) worldwide.  His company specializes in advising thought-leaders that offer a unique and powerful message for the world. John is based in Pasadena, California.


Janet Vreeland
Janet is a Sr. Client Manager for Mercer, an operating company within Marsh McLennan, a Fortune 200 company. In her role she orchestrates the delivery of human capital, employee benefits, total rewards and risk management services for a $10 million global portfolio. Her income has increased 3x since she began studying transactional philosophy in 2015. Janet loves living in Long Beach, California with her husband, Bob and their rescue animals Buddy the dog and Tip Toe the cat.


Dallas Jackson
Dallas Jackson is Founder and Managing Director of Humaneering, an international coaching and training organization that helps companies realize the full human, operational and technological potential of an Agile environment by providing the training and tools for a successful cultural transformation. She brings not only technical expertise to address a company’s issues but also a set of holistic practices drawn from science-based theories on human behavior to ensure that not only is the product honored but also the humans involved in making it, creating more of a symbiotic relationship rather than one that has to be starved for the sake of the other. Her joy is in helping people tap into more intrinsic motivations and honoring humans over process.


Suzanne Pool

Suzanne Pool is a Cambridge educated former intellectual property and media Lawyer and is now a self-styled Women’s Sexual Empowerment Coach. She is an entrepreneur and investor in businesses that bring fun and fulfillment to all aspects of people’s lives. She has fun traveling the world, meeting new people and speaking to audiences about what’s possible for them in their lives when they create authentic, honest relationships with their people, and bring compassion and love to themselves. Suzanne lives and practices in London, UK.




Lauren Robertson, MS, LMT, BCTMB, MTI, Programs Co-Chair
Lauren is a nationally (US) board certified licensed massage therapist and instructor. She is a practitioner of craniosacral, lymphatic, somatoemotional release and other gentle modalities that facilitate a process by which she facilitates release, self-correction, and healing for her clients. Lauren is a partner in Lantern Tree Media Development Group, holds a Masters of science degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and a Bachelors of Art in the restoration of decorative arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, is an esteemed alumni of Influential U, and has studied extensively and is a teaching assistant with both the Upledger Institute and the Chikly Health Institute.



Bernadette O'Shea

Bernadette O’Shea
Bernadette O'Shea is senior director of development for neurosciences and wellness at Virginia Commonwealth University, a Top 100 National Science Foundation research university. Her career specialization is building infrastructure, leading teams, raising major gifts for healthcare organizations advancing capital, research, and patient initiatives. Bernadette's greatest delight is the time spent with her two daughters outside the office. She divides her time between Chicago, Illinois, and Richmond, Virginia.



STAFF


Jill Locantore, Executive Coordinator
Jill Locantore has been managing key projects for C-Suite Executives and their leadership teams for the past 8 years. She currently works closely with Dr. Khush Cooper in both her commercial and academic endeavors. Her organizational skills have benefitted several boards, including the Board of Directors of a $7M Los Angeles non-profit and of the Institute for Transactional Philosophy. She lives in Los Angeles where she enjoys working out, fishing, and dirt-bike riding.

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